Harrison Bowe

In his second solo exhibition with Despard Gallery, Bowe expands his creative exploration of the remote Tasmanian wildness, including how physically experiencing the landscape can inform its interpretation through paint.  With Water Over Time brings together a new suite of paintings that recall Bowe’s personal expeditions rafting the Gordon and Franklin Rivers, as well as traversing the mountainous areas around Tuynti / Frenchmans Cap, south-west Lutruwita / Tasmania.

Built up through layers of enamel, thick oil paint and beeswax, each work responds to the experience of navigating these terrains firsthand, including the contrasting typographies and unpredictable conditions.  Carved out with various sized palette knifes, the surface of each painting maps key moments of this journey, becoming a trace of Bowe’s pursuit within the landscape and then creatively in the studio, captured through the physical trace of his hand. Contrasting raw textures against subtle gradients of receding tone, Bowe’s work becomes truly immersive, evoking both the weight of these spaces as well as the ethereal experiences they can elicit. Overall, Bowe’s practice encapsulates the underlying significance of the Tasmanian landscape, affirming its persuasive and emotional influence that is both personal, yet universally shared.

Click here to read exhibition review by Andrew Harper (Visual Arts – Tas Weekend, The Mercury – Saturday 31 August 2024)